TAMPA SHIPBUILDING

On November 18, 2008, Edison Chouest Offshore officials appeared before the Tampa Port Authority in an effort to secure the assignment of Tampa Bay Shipbuilding and Repair’s long-term lease agreement with the port. The authority had no objection to the transfer and, on that date, Tampa Ship, LLC was born. Chouest assumed management and operation of the yard in early December.
The Tampa shipyard is a full service conversion, overhaul and repair facility that was previously owned by a group associated with Mobile, AL-based Bender Shipbuilding and Repair. The shipyard has been the only commercial shipyard equipped with four large graving docks (capable of servicing ships up to 150,000 DWT) and extensive crane facilities between Pascagoula, MS and Hampton Roads, VA.
“Tampa Ship provides us more capacity for new construction and the repair of much larger vessels,” said President Gary Chouest. “Now that we have closed on the purchase, we are looking forward to construction on our first new vessel this month.”
Although the shipyard specialized in recent years in performing repairs and overhauls, Chouest has agreed to assist in the phase out of a new construction deal with Bender. The previous owner has been building three large barges for Overseas Shipholding Group; Chouest will assist in completing that deal, slated for a late 2009 delivery.

Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Company announced the appointment of Walter J. Hartley Jr. (Joe) to the position of president and CEO.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Hartley has an extensive background in the ship repair and conversion industry. His previous experience includes vice president at Atlantic Dry Dock in Jacksonville; president and CEO of Atlantic Marine in Mobile, Ala.; and president and CEO of S & H Land Corporation in Jacksonville.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. and Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Company have promoted Michael Pinkham to Ship Repair Sales Manager for both the Mobile and Tampa yards. The Sales and Marketing Departments of both companies have been combined to more efficiently and economically service customer accounts. Pinkham brings his many years of ship repair sales, production and estimating experience to this position

Marine Towing of Tampa, LLC will host a private dedication ceremony on Thursday, June 12 to debut its new tugboat, Patriot, at Port Tampa Bay. The Patriot is one of the few tugboats in the United States with open ocean firefighting capabilities spraying nearly 12,000 gallons per minute at a distance of 400 feet.
Built in East Boothbay, Maine, the 93’ long, 5,000 horsepower tugboat equipped with two Tier 3 sixteen cylinder Caterpillar engines and two Rolls-Royce Z-drives will add to

Seabulk Towing is scheduled to christen the sister tugs Buccaneer and Gasparilla at its Tampa, Fla. facility on Thursday, January 24. Sponsors are Lorraine Gontarski, to christen tug Buccaneer on behalf of her husband, Joe Gontarski, who is Senior Director and special assistant to the Executive Director for Port Manatee and has served both the Port of Tampa and Port Manatee for over 30 years. The career of tug Gasparilla’s sponsor, Ms

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard (Oslo: AKPS), a leading U.S. commercial shipyard, delivered to American Shipping Company (Oslo: AMSC) the shipyard’s twelfth Veteran Class MT-46 product tanker. The 46,000 dwt vessel, named the Overseas Tampa, will leave the shipyard in the coming days under the operation of Overseas Shipping Group (OSG) to transport petroleum products.
The on schedule delivery of this ship marks the successful conclusion of a historic shipbuilding program that began in April

Coast Guard personnel from Sector St. Petersburg, along with members from Port Manatee and Tampa Fire and Rescue, conducted a pollution-response exercise at the Port of Manatee in Palmetto, Fla., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.
The exercise was aimed at testing and improving the Coast Guard's ability to assemble, deploy and operate a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System (VOSS). A VOSS is used to isolate and collect the spilled substance during or after a spill

There is a disturbing trend developing internationally that will surely be an agenda topping item for the International Maritime Organization in the coming year. At press time the Norwegian RoRo vessel Tampa, its crew of 27 and a reported 438 refugees — including 22 women and 43 children — was still in limbo.
On Sunday, August 26, 2001 in Indonesian territorial waters, Tampa received a call from the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) Australia asking it to rescue a fishing vessel in distress

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard facilitated a port security exercise in Tampa on November 16, that evaluated the preparedness, potential preventitive actions and the ability to respond to and recover from a terrorist-related incident.
The Port Security Training Exercises Program (PortSTEP) is focused on building links within the Area Maritime Security (AMS) Committee, which assists the Coast Guard Captain of the Port in writing

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has signed a deal for construction of four 20,000 TEU containerships with Samsung Heavy Industries.
MOL also concluded an MOU for long-term chartering of two 20,000 TEU containerships with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, Ltd

OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) supplied 78,000 metric tons of metal products to shipbuilders in 2014, which represents a 37.2% growth year-on-year.
MMK supplies up to half of all metal products sold to the Russian shipbuilding industry

In the EU journal Parliament, Portuguese Member of European Parliament João Ferreira has proposed a five-point plan to stimulate growth in the EU shipbuilding industry.
He said that after a decline in industrial activity since the 1970s

Irving Shipbuilding's partnership with Women Unlimited provides community college funding and job opportunities at Halifax Shipyard
Irving Shipbuilding has partnered with Women Unlimited to provide education funding and job opportunities to 20 women who will participate in the welding and

Port Canaveral launched a new website this week at www.portcanaveral.com, the Canaveral Port Authority announced today.
“Our goal across all business lines is to provide the best experience possible and this upgrade to our website helps us achieve that goal because our website often is the

Eastern Shipbuilding has donated $250,000 for the construction of the National Coast Guard Museum in New London, Connecticut, the National Coast Guard Museum Association announced yesterday.
Eastern Shipbuilding, a diversified ship builder headquartered in Panama City, Florida

WR Systems, Ltd. (WR) of Norfolk, Virginia has been awarded an order for the establishment of a Mini Stock Point for wireless communication and navigation systems by the Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS). The period of performance is February 2

China’s central government anti-corruption team carried out an investigation which determined that the state-backed shipbuilding giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has took part in several corruption activities.

Port Manatee and its stakeholders look to benefit from full federal funding of a feasibility study related to deepening of its channel and harbor area, the port said.
Manatee Harbor, near the Gulf of Mexico entrance to Tampa Bay, is one of only 10 waterways in the continental United States

Government of Canada & Irving Shipbuilding mark signing of $2.3 billion AOPS build contract; 3,600 Jobs across Canada generated from Irving’s NSPS commitments to gate
The Government of Canada joined Irving Shipbuilding and its employees today marked the signing of the $2

Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) and Congressman Steven Palazzo (MS-4), along with 30 bipartisan House colleagues, sent a letter this week to Senate leadership urging opposition to an amendment that they say would strip domestic construction requirements that help strengthen America’s

Chesapeake Shipbuilding has signed a contract with Vane Brothers to build two new tugs, marking the 13th and 14th tugs that Chesapeake will have built for Vane Brothers in the last several years.
The two new tugs will fit into Chesapeake’s existing order book

American Maritime Partnership (AMP) issued a statement opposing Senator John McCain’s recent measure to eliminate the U.S. shipbuilding industry. AMP said U.S. shipbuilding is critical to supporting America’s military power and defense needs employs hundreds of thousands of Americans

China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has entered into 13 shipbuilding orders in the fourth quarter of 2014, of which nine were effective orders with a total contract value of US$388 million, brining total orders for 2014 to a record US$1.8 billion

Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is now 100 percent Russian-owned as United Shipbuilding Corporation bought the remaining half of the company’s shares from STX Finland Oy.
Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Inc. was founded in December 2010 as United Shipbuilding Corporation bought the first 50